Highland Millwork Closing

[PhilEllis]

I really think it is sad to hear of the closing of Highland Millwork, Inc. Joe and his staff are a class act, loaded with product knowledge, and willing to use every bit of that knowledge on every product they produced. When I opened our letter from them, I was truely shocked. They will be missed in this industry.

Phil Ellis

 

[matt_unique]

That is bad news, they offered the best ss band products.

--Matt

 

[SparticleBrane]

...any idea why they're closing? It might be rude to ask, but since the make the best product I don't see the reason for closing, or at least it isn't obvious. This isn't like sports, don't retire while you're at the top of your game!

 

[dsteding]

Their bands are the best, but they do cost a lot more than el cheapo bands. I wonder if that has something to do with it . . . but it seems to me that tech divers would be willing to pay for the quality.

Probably 90% of the doubles I see in my neck of the woods have Highland bands on them. Both my sets do, and I may pick up a set or two to stash in the closet.

Puzzling, and a shame.

 

[Jorbar1551]

are they offering a close out deal?

 

[PhilEllis]

...any idea why they're closing? It might be rude to ask, but since the make the best product I don't see the reason for closing, or at least it isn't obvious. This isn't like sports, don't retire while you're at the top of your game!

In their letter to the dealers, they did not specify a reason for the closing, so it would be foolish to speculate. Maybe it's just time to retire. Maybe demand for the product is down. Maybe demand is gigantic, they just can't command the price the relates to the cost involved in the production of the high-quality product. Who knows.

I will tell you this. In my opinion, this is simply more of the rapidly changing landscape we will see in the diving business over the next few years. Clearly, change in how dive gear is sold and distributed is around the corner. The old days are gone. If you look around, there are a number of new "sheriffs" in town. Things are going to change fast in this business from now until the "new business model" completely replaces the old.

Phil Ellis

 

[PhilEllis]

are they offering a close out deal?

They are offering some volume buys on the remaining inventory, but it is not the deep discount you sometimes see. I wouldn't expect you will see any drop in the retail prices of the bands. The discounts they will offer will simply compensate the dealers for the investment required to buy the larger volume. Existing dealers are also limited in the number of bands they can purchase during the close down, so you will not see anyone with "gigantic" numbers of bargain Highland bands.

Phil Ellis

 

[SparticleBrane]

I had to drop by my LDS today to pick up some rental gear and while I was there I asked about price matching for online stuff. They wanted $130/set for Highland bands, TDL wanted $110 + shipping. I told them I'd buy two sets of bands if they could met or get fairly close to TDL's price so we met in the middle. Woo shiny.

 

[TSandM]

They really are beautiful. It's very sad that Highland is closing. The difference in quality between the Highland bands I have on my tanks, and the bands that came with one of the sets of 72's I bought (which I had to replace), was dramatic.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I'm going to pick up some 6.9" bands sometime too...even though I probably won't double up the 72s for a little while, I want to make sure they have nice bands.